Barbara Rae Avis Smart passed away peacefully on Sunday
October 20, with family at her side. She was born December 12, 1932 in Roanoke,
VA, the daughter of Lois Bond Avis Starke and Martin Luther (Skip) Avis, both
departed.
Barbara is survived by her husband of 53 years, Jerry
Ross Smart of Orlando, and her daughters Linda Lani Kress, Bonnie Susanne
Salem, Jeri Carolynn Mooney, Kristie Marie Viehman and Sandra Leigh Smart
Payne. She is also survived by her 5
sons-in-law, 9 grandchildren, 2 great grandsons, and many valued friends and
colleagues.
A Realtor in the Orlando area for 42 years, Barbara was a
career agent for several Realtors until her retirement. Her family and friends
will remember her as a funny, creative, beautiful, and graceful woman who
excelled as an ad hoc hula instructor, swing dancing “champion”, artist, ballet
costume seamstress, stylish bowler, sly Bridge partner, dance and music lesson
chauffer, and fashionably late. She was active in the Women’s Council of
Realtors, the Junior Women’s Club of Orlando and Beta Sigma Phi and served as a
PTA president, Girl Scout, and Brownie leader. She loved warm sandy beaches,
especially any place that reminded her of Hawaii, where she lived for several
years. We will miss her laugh, watching her dance with Dad in the kitchen, her
ability to fall asleep anywhere/anytime, and her potato salad.
We bid Barbara, a beloved daughter, cherished wife, and
devoted mother, a fond Aloha and will honor her memory with love, laughter,
dance, song, and tears: a sea of tears.
A graveside service for family and friends will be held
at 12:00 noon at Glen Haven Memorial Gardens in Winter Park, Florida on
Wednesday, October 23. In lieu of
flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association at www.Alz.org or to Hospice of the Comforter at www.hospiceofthecomforter.org.
